For the Colorado Wind Ensemble and the Arvada Chorale, it was about audience. If you are a small, talented arts group who has worked hard to build a base in Arvada, you simply can’t pop down to Parker, 34 miles away, and hope that people will show up. Well, you can hope, but the people won’t come. Not even friends and family.

“Carmina Burana” is a grand effort and the combined forces of these two musical entities performed it admirably, offering up some truly memorable moments. Matthew J. Roeder, on the podium, kept this 25-song mashup, spanning 70 minutes, with a cast of 90-plus, in the moment all the way through, not an easy task.